Fife councillor calls on local authority to postpone elections
Fife Council released a statement on August 2, stating that it intends to hold the community council elections on October 4, and that anyone interested in standing as a candidate would have to be registered to vote by August 10.
Cllr Dominic Nolan has said the deadline has been “inadequately advertised”, with just eight days between the announcement and the deadline.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIt has prompted him to call for the community council elections to be postponed.
You might also be interested in:
“Community councils play a vital role in our democracy and are the closest level of representation for the people of Fife,” he said.
“However, community council elections are notorious for seeing a low number of volunteers step forward and contested elections are exceedingly rare.
“This deadline has been inadequately advertised and leaves little time for an organised effort to get people registered. Steps should have been taken much sooner to advertise the registration deadline in order to find more volunteers for community councils than we have in the past.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“These elections should be postponed so Fife Council can dedicate more time and resources to ensure a high engagement with the election process.
“Increased turnout and contested elections will further inform and improve the activities of community councils by bringing them closer to the communities they serve.”
Mike Melville, Electoral Services manager, said: “Community councils were first notified in May of the intention to hold the elections on October 4. We’ve had no concerns expressed from any community council on the date of the elections, either in response to the original email or the more recent one advising of the registration deadline.”
People wanting to stand must be 16 years old or over, be registered to vote, and have lived in the area of the community council for at least one year.